The North Haven Police Department identified the 72-year-old customer, who was crushed to death at Sims Metal Management on Wednesday afternoon.

According to police, Francis Almeida, of Durham, was at the facility on Universal Drive around 12:30 p.m. when his car-carrier truck crushed him while he was unloading motor vehicle scrap metal.

Almeida suffered crushing injuries to his chest and abdomen and died at the facility, police said.

The spokesman at Sims Metal Management said that Almeida was a longtime customer and friend of the metals recycling facility.

Police said an autopsy will be performed on Almeida's body at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington.

The incident is under investigation by the North Haven Police Department along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles and the South Central Regional Traffic Unit. The investigation by OSHA is expected to take at least six months.

Eyewitness News learned the company was fined $6,000 in June 2000 after a worker was injured when a metal box fell on his leg. Three other incidents at Sims Metal Management did not result in any citations being issued.

"As everyone knows, the safety of Sims Metal Management's employees and visitors to our facilities is of the utmost importance and an issue we spend a tremendous amount of time and resources on," Sims Metal spokesman Daniel Strechay previously said in a statement.

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call the North Haven Police Department at 203-239-5321